Preamble

Innovation and, more specifically, the Next Production Revolution (NPR), are going to bring unprecedented "Big Shifts" to our companies, our labor forces and our societies, as highlighted by the OECD report "The Next Production Revolution: Implication for Government and Business".

In addition to the initiatives that our countries have already undertaken at the national level, we, the Leaders of the G7, recognize the extraordinary opportunity we have today to express a common agreement on a set of main priorities regarding Innovation, Skills and Labor. The relevant specific policies will be elaborated further during our competent Ministers' Meetings.

In conjunction with our Summit Leaders' Communiqué, our goal, today, is to highlight an integrated policy agenda, so as to allow people and firms from all sectors to take full advantage of the benefits of innovation and, in doing so, to magnify our efforts to make innovation a concrete source of prosperity, competitiveness and well-being for all regions of our countries.

Main Policy Pillars and Key Policy Priorities

To seize the opportunities and to tackle the challenges of the "Big Shifts" sparked by innovation and the NPR, we have therefore identified three main Policy Pillars, along with a set of Key Policy Priorities, whose specific aspects will be further analyzed during the discussions among our competent Ministries.

Pillar I – Innovation in Production

In this area, we identify three key policy priorities: (1) inclusiveness; (2) openness; and (3) security.

Key Policy Priority 1. Foster inclusion of SME in the innovation-driven economy, recognizing their important role in the digital transformation of G7 countries, while paying special attention to start-ups.

Key Policy Priority 2. Promote access to the digital world for people and businesses, and advance towards the development and use of Artificial Intelligence, as essential drivers of inclusive economic growth and progress. Promote and protect the free flow of information, while ensuring privacy and data protection and strengthening digital security.

Key Policy Priority 3. Promote and support both Intellectual Property Rights Protection and risk-informed policies on Cybersecurity that strengthen the digital economy and play a key role in businesses' growth and people's well-being.

Key Policy Priority 4. Increase researchers' abilities to address opportunities and challenges brought by the Next Production Revolution, with special attention to under- represented groups.

Key Policy Priority 5. Reinforce the role of research in producing future knowledge and innovation, by identifying best practices in Science Technology Innovation financing policies and mechanisms.

Key Policy Priority 6. Reinforce synergies among G7 countries through their participation in Global Research Infrastructures and networks of e-Infrastructures, to reap the benefits of Open Science.

Key Policy Priority 7. Foster dialogue among G7 countries on policies that could contribute to the deployment and the interconnection of NPR-enabling quality infrastructures, such as high-speed broadband networks; smart energy grids; smart logistics and mobility platforms. Encourage policies that will enable people, businesses and researchers to access such infrastructure, providing them thus with access to new innovations that can create opportunities in all fields.

Pillar III – Future of Work

In this area, we identify two key policy priorities: (1) dialogue and (2) inclusiveness.

Key Policy Priority 8. Promote people-driven innovation that boosts both the quantity and quality of jobs.

Key Policy Priority 9. Design sound policies related to the future of work for inclusive and sustainable innovation-driven growth.

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In accordance with national legislations, we task our Ministers competent for Industry, ICT, Science, Labor and Employment to further elaborate policies in accordance with these Main Policy Pillars, in their respective domains.

Furthermore, with reference to the deployment of Key Policy Pillar 7, as well as the above-mentioned Ministers, we request that specific collaboration be set in place also with the Ministers competent for Environment, Infrastructure and Transportation.

The respective outcomes will constitute separate annexes to this Action Plan and will be added at the end of the "G7 Innovation Week" (Turin, September 25-October 1).